


In Pursuit of Ever After

by Racergirl82



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Abuse, Accountant Castiel (Supernatural), Additional Tags to Be Added, Alpha Dean, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Female Castiel, John and Mary Live, Mechanic Dean, Michael (supernatual) is an asshole, Multi, Non-Hunter Winchesters, Non-Supernatural AU, Omega Castiel, Omega Castiel/Alpha Dean Winchester, Past Castiel/Michael (Supernatural), Single Parent Castiel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-09-22 08:59:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9598844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Racergirl82/pseuds/Racergirl82
Summary: Dean Winchester never believed in Fate; until the day that Fate walked into his life. But the road to Ever After is full of potholes.





	1. Long cool woman

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when you combine cold medication and a day of binge watching TV. First story ever so Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated

Dean was never a believer of Fate. That was until the late fall day that his fate walked into his auto repair shop.

Benny had just left for his lunch break when Dean heard the door chime, indicating that a customer had just walked into the shop.Dean pokes his head out from under the dilapidated Ford truck that he is working on to see who is standing at the front counter. But the vision nearly knocks the air from him.

The woman standing at the counter is beautiful. Long, curly dark hair and blue eyes like he had never seen before. She is dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a gray sweater. She has a small pup with her that is probably only about four months old.When he entered the front lobby, Dean caught the soft scent of an Omega; it is a scent that gets Dean’s blood rushing southward.It takes Dean a couple moments to come back to his senses and able to interact with the Omega as a human and not a knot-head Alpha.

“Can I help you?”

“I have an appointment to get my car serviced.” The Omega answered. 

“What was the name?”

“Castielle Novack. I have a 2003 Hyundai Santa-Fe.” Dean remembers talking to Castielle earlier on the phone and pulls up the paperwork that he had already started.

“Alright. Where you dropping it off or going to wait on it?”

“I don’t have a ride, so I’m going to have to wait.”

“Ok. If you want to have a seat. I’ll get it in and get started on it.”

Dean takes the keys from the Omega and goes back into the shop to grab a paper floor mat and steering wheel cover. Before going outside of the shop to find the small SUV parked near the door to the shop. Since it is just an oil change, Dean brings the vehicle into the pit bay. As he exits the car, Dean hits the hood release in preparation of refilling the oil when he’s finished underneath.

Going down to the pit, Dean quickly gets the oil draining; making sure to note its color and general viscosity.As the oil is draining, Dean checks the underside of the engine and transmission for any fluid leakage.He doesn’t find any leaks, so he continues the oil change.

After all the oil has drained, Dean checks the volume; noting that the oil was at capacity.On the bench of the service pit is a dropper and a box of vials that Dean grabs before going back over to the drain pan. He collects a sample of the oil in the vial to take back upstairs with him when he’s finished. It was a practice he had inherited from his dad to always save the old parts or sample of fluids changed to show the customer when they finish the repairs.

He gets the filter changed and the drain plug back in; then he goes back upstairs to refill the oil. As he did so, he couldn’t help but watch the Omega, Castielle, as she sat in the waiting room with her pup. Dean had never met an Omega who his Alpha reacts to so enthusiastically before.Omegas rarely come into the shop alone as getting a vehicle serviced wasn’t a ‘proper Omega’ duty.But Dean hadn’t noticed a mating mark or a mating ring.A single Omega parent is almost unheard of, as having a pup without being mated is frowned upon.

The pup is sitting on her lap as she reads to her from a much worn copy of “The Monster at the End of This Book”.Even though the pup’s hair is lighter than her mother’s, the blue eyes and similar facial features told Dean that the pup was Castielle’s.

Dean has to pull himself out of his thoughts to complete the job that he is working on. After he finishes filling the oil, Dean backs the car out of the garage and parks it in the same place that Castielle had. As Dean sat in the driver’s seat, an exotic and amazing scent hit his nose: it smelled like honeysuckle and jasmine and something else that Dean couldn’t identify. Even the pup scents of milk and baby powder smelled appealing to him.

Dean can feel his Alpha scratching to come to the surface at the overwhelming scents. So before it has a chance to take control and forcibly claim the Omega who smells so good, Dean gets out of the car and takes several deep breaths through his nose to try to clear the intoxicating scents from his nose.Only after he has regained control of himself, does Dean head toward the shop to get Castielle checked out.

“I got the oil change done.” Dean said as he entered the waiting room and walked over to the counter. 

“Oh. Thank you for getting it done so quickly.” Castielle said as she rose from her seat; placing her pup on her hip as she stood.

“The total comes to: $31.78.” Dean says as he finishes up the paperwork.

Castielle puts her purse on the counter, and retrieves her wallet; all the while keeping her pup balanced on her hip. Castielle removed a credit card from her wallet and hands the card to Dean. When Castielle hands Dean her credit card, Dean thought he saw the top of a bruise on her wrist. It looked suspiciously like finger marks. Castielle must have realized that Dean saw the bruise as she pulled her sleeve down over her wrist.

“You ok?” Dean asks he swipes the credit card; pretending to be nonchalant about it; but inside he is seething at the thought of someone harming the Omega. He knows that Omegas often face a life of domestic violence, but it doesn’t make it easy for him to accept. 

“Yes.” Castielle answers after a brief hesitation. She is clearly shutting down, and Dean knows that she will not admit to the abuse. It’s another clear sign of abuse. But Dean chooses not to comment further.He hands Castielle the credit card receipt to sign, and she amazingly manages to do so with her pup still on her hip. 

After Castielle signs the receipt, she gathers up her purse, keys, and a small backpack that Dean assumes has supplies for the pup and heads out to her car. She opens the back door and places the backpack and purse on the floorboard before preparing to put her daughter into her car seat.

Dean watches Castielle put her pup in her car seat. After Castielle gets her daughter strapped in, Dean can see her grab a blanket from the rear seat and tuck it around her pup. Castielle then closes the back door and gets in the driver’s seat. Dean can see that she spend a few moments readjusting her seat and buckling her seatbelt; before she starts the engine. Without a noticeable glance back, Castielle drives out of the parking lot.

Inside the shop, Dean is trying to get his libido back under his control before a customer, or worse: Benny, comes into the shop. It would be bad if Benny came back from his lunch break to find Dean standing around dumbly with a half hard cock. Finally, Dean gets himself calmed down; as he does so, he looks down at the paper work on the counter. On the paperwork for the service, Dean noticed that it had Castielle’s address and phone number on it. So without really knowing why, Dean folds it up and puts it in his shirt pocket.

TBC

 


	2. Words as weapons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: Rape/Non-con, abuse, nothing very graphic but it's still there.

Leaving the auto repair shop, Castielle decides to stop at the Chick-fil-a down the street from the shop to get something for lunch before going home. Once she gets her order, Castielle drives through Lawrence to go back to her condo. Hannah is going to be ready for a nap by time that Castielle gets home. 

Parking in her assigned space in at her condo; Cas quickly gets Hannah out of her car seat. Juggling her pup and her bags, she makes her way to her front door. 

She drops her purse on the couch as she walks through the living room, leaving the diaper bag on her shoulder. She deposits the take out bag on the kitchen counter as she walks through the kitchen to head towards the stairs to go up to the bedrooms. Since Hannah is already falling asleep on her shoulder, Castielle doesn’t try to nurse her. And since she had given Hannah a bottle shortly before they went to get the car serviced, Hannah isn’t likely to want to nurse right now anyways. She just walks to the nursery intent on putting Hannah down for a nap.

Entering the small room, Castielle first slips the diaper bag off of her arm and hangs it on the hook on the back of the door. She then checks Hannah’s diaper to see if she needs changed before going down for her nap. Castielle discovers that Hannah is indeed in need of a change. She places Hannah down on the changing table and proceeds to change the dozing pup’s wet diaper. Castielle doesn’t try to change Hannah into a sleeper as that would just wake her up, so instead she just removes the pink pants she had dressed Hannah in that morning, leaving her in just the pink and white onesie. 

Getting Hannah changed, Castielle wraps her in her favorite pink blanket and lays Hannah down in her crib. After Hannah is settled in her crib, Castielle makes sure that the baby monitor is turned on, taking the receiver with her as she quietly leaves the room and goes downstairs. 

Once downstairs, Castielle heads towards the kitchen and washes her hands at the sink before removing her lunch from the takeout bag; placing them on the plate she retrieves from the cabinet. Once she had her plate made, she goes over to her small table and moves some of the paper work that is sitting on top of it. 

Since she had given birth to Hannah, Castielle had been working from home for the most part. Two days a week she has to go into her office to meet with clients; but the rest of the time she can do her paperwork from her home office. Her assistant, Madison, hadn’t sent her any text messages about anything that needed her urgent attention; allowing her to enjoy her lunch.

Castielle had just finished her lunch and was rinsing her plate in the sink when she heard the sound of her front door opening.She immediately leaves the kitchen to see who had come into her condo; prepared to do whatever she needed to do to protect her pup. 

“How did you get in here?” Castielle angrily asked the Alpha that is standing in her living room. The man standing there shouldn’t have been frightening, but he was. He smugly held up a key, one that Castielle presumes is for her door. He held out a bunch of flowers for her. Castielle looked at them then back up to his face He looked at the Omega and smiled eerily at her, making Castielle take a step back and the Alpha enjoyed seeing those big blue eyes filled with fear.Michael is intimidating and scary but usually nice to Castielle, especially when he wanted sexual favors.

“I convinced your landlord to give me a key. I wouldn’t have needed to do that if you had been home like you’re supposed to be. Where were you this morning?”

“Well, you can just give it back to him. I don’t know why you think you can just come in here, unannounced, and try prying into my personal life.”

“Castielle,” Michael said.“I’ve been meaning to come see you about your services.”His hand now caressing the scared Omega’s face.

“I told you to get out,” She said angrily. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing but I don’t want those and I don’t want you.”

Michael seems to snap and strikes her hard across the face.The combination of the force of the hit and the fact that Castielle wasn’t expecting it, causes her to fall into the loveseat. She lays there stunned, both from the hit and from hitting her head on the front of the loveseat. 

She can hear Hannah begin to cry, obviously awoken by the commotion downstairs. Then she realizes that the baby monitor is just a few feet away from her on the floor. 

“You know what I can do if you do not obey me, Castielle!” Michael growls as he stood over her. “I can have that snot-nosed, screaming brat taken from you; and you’ll never see her again.” 

Michael pins her to the floor and begins to unbutton her pants. 

“Michael, please. Hannah can hear us.”Castielle begged, desperately looking towards the baby monitor; hoping that it would be enough for Michael to allow her to go upstairs and tend to Hannah; and maybe lock themselves in the nursery long enough for Castielle to call the police.But all Michael did it punch her again in the side of the head. 

“If you don’t do as you’re told, Castielle, and answer my question: I will go upstairs and snap that screaming bastard’s neck.” Michael threatened. Castielle then goes limp, knowing that Michael will do exactly as he threatened.

“I needed to get my car serviced. Then I got some lunch.” Castielle explains in a desperate attempt to appease the angry Alpha pinning her to the floor.

“Now was that so hard?” Michael replied. He seemed unsurprised by Castielle’s answer. And not for the first time does Castielle wonder if Michael has a way to track her. 

But before she can think anymore about it: Michael rips off her pants and underwear.She blanks out during the time that Michael is raping her, because that is what it is. As she allows her mind to drift, she can’t help but think back to how she got into this position. 

She had been the youngest of seven children; and only girl. Her family was an upper class family in Illinois; living in an affluent suburb of Chicago. Her parents had been distant from her even before she presented. But after she had presented early as an Omega, and her family made no effort to hide that they were disappointed that she is an Omega.

And while an Omega in a wealthy family often had a better life than lower class Omegas, her family had essentially disowned her. She had gone against her family’s orders and enrolled herself in a homeschooling program to finish high school. Then when she turned 18, her parents had attempted to force her into an arranged mating to an Alpha that was nearly fifteen years older than her. She had refused and her parents had banished her from the house.

Her older brother Gabriel had offered her a temporary home sleeping on his couch in Champaign. But the family had decided that Gabriel would be shunned too since he had decided to take in the ‘Omega Bitch’. After that, she knew that she needed to get out of Illinois. Not only to get away from her parents and the Alpha they wanted her to mate with; but she didn’t want to be the cause of Gabriel losing the family as well. 

So she had applied to Kansas State and got accepted into their accounting program. During the time that she was in college: she had done a lot of couch surfing, sleeping on floors, the occasional motel room, and sometimes even sleeping in her car. She had gotten a job, working as a cashier at a grocery store just so she could have money for food and gas in her car. She was smart, so she was able to do well in school. Upon graduation, she had gotten a coveted job at a respected accounting firm in Lawrence and with it had been the hope of having a stable home again. 

Michael, and his company Cosco Renewable Energy, had been one of her first clients when she had joined Standover Financial Services. She had managed to attract Michael’s attention immediately and he began aggressively pursuing her. Even though he was mated to a Beta named Rachel. She had been young and naïve, with a large student loan debt.He had paid off her loans; helped her get her condo; and claimed he could give her job security by contracting with her firm on the condition that Castielle be the one to mostly oversee his accounts. In exchange, she be his personal slut. 

It had taken a few months for Castielle to reluctantly agree. Only because he had worn her down so much and decided that being what Michael wanted her to be had to be better than the constantly turning him down in hopes that he would eventually move on. Then she became pregnant with Hannah.Michael had tried to force her to have an abortion; but Castielle had refused. 

It was after that, when Michael became abusive in every way possible.He made it no secret that he was having multiple affairs and constantly accused her of cheating as well, even though they had no real commitment. Michael even refused to acknowledge the fact that Hannah is his pup. After she had given birth, Michael had used Hannah to keep her under his control. He is constantly threatening to have her baby taken from her. Either by filing a complaint with Pup protection services or actually sue her for custody of Hannah. 

Castielle is forced from her internal thoughts when Michael pulls his swollen knot from her and jerks himself to completion all over her stomach. Castielle would suppose she should feel humiliated at having Michael’s cum all over her, but she is in too much pain to care at the moment.Michael just gets off of her and uses one of Hannah’s blankets that is folded on the couch to wipe himself off before fixing his clothes and casually strolling to the door like he hadn’t just violently raped someone. 

“See you around, Bitch.” Is all Michael says as he walks out the door; not even bothered by the fact that Castielle is on the floor bleeding from her damaged hole. 

Castielle can still hear Hannah’s whimpers over the baby monitor. Rolling over, Cas drags herself over to where she had dropped the receiver for the baby monitor. The tiny screen shows Hannah laying on her back, flailing her tiny arms and legs. Her face is distorted by her cries. 

Castielle gets up from the floor and tries to ignore the blood and cum dripping from her. She goes over to the front door and makes sure that she locks the security lock on the door; knowing that Michael wouldn’t be able to unlock them. 

Castielle pulls herself up the stairs, every step is agony between her legs. Once she gets upstairs, Castielle makes her way over to the nursery door. Standing in the doorway, Castielle can see Hannah still fussing in her crib and it’s like a knife to her heart that she can’t immediately go to her daughter. But she doesn’t want Hannah to become accustom to Michael’s scent. Castielle knows that she doesn’t want Hannah to know Michael’s scent or the scent of her blood. 

“It’s ok, Angel. Momma’s ok.” Castielle said; from the doorway; relieved that her voice seemed to calm Hannah down. 

Castielle turns away from the nursery, and heads towards the bathroom or more specifically the shower. The baby monitor still in her hand as she goes. Getting to the bathroom, Castielle removes what remains of her clothing. But instead of putting them in the hamper, she tosses them in the trash. Turning on the shower to let it heat up, Castielle moves over to the mirror and inspects the damage to her face. The right side is red from Michael’s blows, and will probably be bruised in the morning. Finger shaped bruises have already began forming on her hips where Michael had gripped her.

Turning away from the mirror, Castielle got into the shower. As the hot water hit her skin, she feels like her knees are going to give out underneath her. Sinking to the floor, Castielle brings her knees to her chest as her lungs hitch into sobs; her tears mixed with the water running down her face. 

 TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Once Castielle gets out of her shower, she quickly dries herself off and wraps her towel around herself. It is still sore between her legs, so she had to walk carefully as she goes to her bedroom to get her clothes. It reminded her of the time after she had given birth to Hannah. It had been a struggle taking care of herself and her newborn pup on her own. Since she is still bleeding slightly from where Michael’s knot had injured her, Castielle decides to use a slick pad to absorb the blood. It has the added benefit of having scent blockers in it just in case there is any lingering scent of Michael down there.She then dresses in a pair of baggy sweats and a nursing tank top.

Leaving the bedroom, Castielle goes to the nursery to check on Hannah. Hannah had managed to free herself from her blankets and is currently entertaining herself with sucking on her toes. But once she sees her mother standing at her crib, Hannah gives up on her toes to kick and laugh; wanting Castielle to pick her up. Castielle picks her up, holding her pup close to her chest; Hannah gripping her shirt in her tiny hand.

Still holding on tightly to her pup, Castielle leaves the nursery and going downstairs.

Castielle sits on the sofa in the living room. Hannah is nuzzling at her shirt, meaning that she is ready to nurse. So Castielle undoes the clasp at her shoulder and arranges her top to offer her nipple to her pup.

Castielle takes comfort in the act of nursing her pup. Once Hannah is finished, Castielle places Hannah at her shoulder and pats her back until Hannah gives a good burp. Castielle then places Hannah in her playpen, and puts a few of Hannah’s toys within reach; so she can get the mess on the other side of the room cleaned up.

The blanket Michael had used is still laying on the floor like a used tissue.Deciding that she would rather replace the blanket than trying to clean it, Castielle uses it to clean up the floor; before she places the blanket in a trash bag. While she’s in the kitchen, she gets the wet-jet. She needs to clean the floor anyways, as is one of the chores that she is diligent about since Hannah is plays a lot on the floor and everything she gets her tiny hands on goes into her mouth.

She cleans the living room floor, then gets Hannah out of the playpen. Hannah is gumming on her favorite giraffe toy, which she waves at Castielle as she picks her up. Sitting back down on the couch, Castielle allows Hannah to ‘stand’ on her lap. As she does so, the figurines on the shelf over the couch catches Hannah’s attention, causing her to babble and point at them.

“What do you see?” Castielle asks her pup. Hannah babbles like she is trying to respond.

She lifts Hannah up and lowers her as she makes nonsense noises; causing Hannah to laugh at her mother’s antics. Castielle manages to laugh and play with Hannah as they sit on the couch. Despite everything that has happened to Castielle, and how Hannah was conceived, Hannah is everything to her.She knows that she would give up her life to keep Hannah safe.

Now that Castielle has a pup of her own, she realizes just how dysfunctional her own family had been. She can’t imagine disowning Hannah, no matter how she presented. And wouldn’t dream of trying to force her to mate with anyone, much less a stranger. And she would never force Hannah to be homeless just because she wanted to get an education. Forcing her to work and go to school just to have enough money for food or the extra gas in her car so she has a warm place to sleep on a cold, snowy, winter night.

Shaking her head, Castielle tries to push those depressing thoughts away; as she knows that they lead down a very dark path.One that she fights very hard to steer herself away from. She had been down that path before and knows where it leads, and she can’t do that to herself. And more importantly: she can’t do that to her pup. Instead, she focuses on her pup. Hannah is her main reason to push herself on and continue to strive to create a safe, loving home for them.

***

After Dean closed the shop at 5 pm, he declines Benny’s invitation to go get a drink. He had claimed that he had something that he needed to do. Benny had given him an odd look; but thankfully, didn't comment on the fact that Dean rarely turns down a drink.

After locking the door, he heads to the Impala. Getting in, Dean contemplates what he plans to do. He makes sure to see Benny leave before he does anything; as he doesn’t want Benny to know what he plans to do. Reaching into his pocket, Dean pulls out the paperwork that Dean had put there earlier. He’s still not sure why he kept it. And he is well aware that he could be considered a stalker by doing so. But he already has it, so what would it hurt to drive by.

He pulls out his phone and searches Castielle’s address. It comes up with a location on the northeast side of town. Castielle’s address is for a place across town from his shop. And in the different direction from his house. Dean drives across town, he wonders just what he fully intends to do when he finds Castielle’s home.Will his Alpha insist on making it known to Castielle that he had drove by or will he just keep going?

Dean can feel himself grow anxious as he gets closer to Castielle’s address. The neighborhood is mostly newer apartments and homes. Overall it appears to be a safe neighborhood. Finally, his GPS lets him know he is near Castielle’s place. Looking around, Dean takes in the area. It is a small, upscale condo complex. And as he drives by, Den can look down the streets of the complex that run perpendicular to the road Dean is driving on.

And on the back street, Dean notices Castielle’s SUV parked in the driveway of the unit on the end of the street closest to the road. So now Dean knows which condo is hers. Much to Dean’s relief and disappointment: he is able to keep driving. He continues to drive, not stopping for anything, until he is sitting in his own driveway.

Almost numbly, Dean shuts of the engine and goes into his house, intent on taking a cold shower and then making himself dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the chapter is short. But please leave feedback as it helps spur my creativity.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning is a Saturday, and it’s Dean’s day off. It is a warm day, so he decides to get some chores done around the house.  It will be starting to get colder soon, so he needs to get some firewood ready.

 As he is doing his chores, Dean lets his mind wander. For some reason, Dean can’t get Castielle out of his head.  Dean figures that part of it is the way Castielle seemed to have no reaction to him. He had rarely met an Omega that hadn’t had at least some reaction to his Alpha.  But Castielle was more focused on her pup to even acknowledge his presence.

Call it egotistical, but Dean was the type of Alpha that preferred Omegas that are a challenge. He enjoyed pursuing them, and this Omega certainly intrigued him.

 First was the fact that she didn’t act like a typical Omega, in fact if it hadn’t been for her clearly Omega scent, Dean would have guessed her to be a Beta.

Then, despite no obvious signs of being mated: Castielle had a pup. She didn’t seem like the typical ‘loose’ Omega, the type that would take any knot that they could. Those normally became hookers or strippers. Or the pup could have been the result of a rape. While it was a rarity, it certainly wasn’t unheard of. Although, most of those Omegas got abortions to save themselves from the stigma of having a pup without being mated. 

The addition of the bruise on her wrist pointed more and more to the latter option.  And most likely is still being abused. That thought caused Dean’s protective instincts to flare up so strongly that it causes him to stop. Dean had never experienced that type of reaction before. An Alpha’s strongest instincts are to protect; but none more so than it’s mate and pups.  But Dean doesn’t even know the Omega, but his Alpha wants to act as if they are mated.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Dean focuses on his duties in an effort to keep Castielle off his mind. Once Dean gets his chores around his house done, he decides to head into town; and get some lunch.  As he drives into Lawrence, Dean realizes that it is still early for lunch as many places are probably still serving breakfast.  After driving around for a while, Dean finally decides on a little hole in the wall diner.  He knows from a card he had seen in Castielle’s car that she frequents this restaurant. It is only a block away from where Castielle lives.  

He turns the Impala into the parking lot and quickly finds a place to park in the near empty parking lot.  Dean had no more than got the Impala parked, when he saw Castielle approaching pushing a stroller.  Even though she is dressed casually in a pair of black yoga pants and a pink top, she looked beautiful.  Her long hair is pulled up in a casual ponytail and she has a pair of sunglasses shielding half of her face.  Getting out of the Impala, Dean reaches the door before Castielle. He holds the door open for her, so she can get the stroller through the door.   

“Thank you.” Castielle says politely as she pushes the stroller through the door. If she recognizes Dean, she gives no indication. It kinda hurts that Castielle doesn’t seem as affected by him as he is by her.

“No problem.” Dean says as he follows her into the restaurant. As Castielle passed him, Dean glanced in the stroller to see the pup. The pup is dressed in a pair of gray pants and a pink long sleeved top.  She is sucking on a pacifier with her blue eyes wide open.

Once they are both seated by the hostess, Dean notices that he has a clear view of Castielle’s table. He notices that the hostess didn’t bring a menu for Castielle, but she doesn’t seem to be bothered with that.

Instead, Castielle gets a container out from the bottom of the stroller. Opening it, she retrieves a plastic bag from it. A bluish-white liquid is in the bag, and Dean realizes that it is breast milk.

Dean watched as she prepared a bottle for her pup. Castielle pours the milk into a bottle and puts a nipple top on the bottle.  Castielle then puts the bottle on the table and unbuckles the pup from her carrier.  Castielle gets the pup from the stroller and positioned in her arms to begin feeding. It takes a little prodding before the pup latched onto her bottle. But the pup soon latches onto the bottle and begins to contently suckle.  Castielle seems completely focused on her task, until she looks directly at Dean and decides to speak.

 “You know, if you’re going to watch me: you could at least come over here and have a conversation. Instead of just staring at me like a crazed stalker, like you have for the last ten minutes. I don’t nurse in public if you were wanting to try to get a peek.”  Castielle says.  

Dean is embarrassed that he had been caught watching Castielle; but he quickly pushes it down and goes over to the table where Castielle is sitting. But instead of sitting down in the adjacent chair, he stands there looking down at the Omega still feeding her pup, completely unaffected by the Alpha standing over her. “Are you going to sit down or just stand in the middle of the restaurant, gapping like a dumb fish?”

“I’m sorry for staring.” Dean apologizes as he sits down in the chair across the table from Castielle. 

 “An Alpha apologizing: I think that has to be a first.” Castielle comments as she removes the bottle from her pup’s mouth.

Castielle places a blanket on her shoulder, and shifts her pup to it.  She begins rubbing the pup’s back, coaxing a burp from her. Castielle places the pacifier back into the pup’s mouth and places her back in the baby carrier. Hannah fusses a bit at being put in the carrier; but Castielle reaches underneath the stroller and produces a giraffe toy from it.  When Hannah sees the toy, she immediately begins to make grabby hands at the toy. 

“There’s Sophie.” Castielle says as she gives the toy to her pup. Hannah spits out the pacifier in favor of gumming the giraffe.

Now that he is sitting across from Castielle, Dean can see the bruise on her cheek that Castielle nearly has concealed with make-up. But when Castielle catches that Dean is looking at the bruise, she turns her head so Dean couldn’t see it as well. Dean knows that Castielle isn’t about to talk about the bruise; so he doesn’t mention it. Instead he tries to stick to safe topics. They talk for a couple hours like old friends who have reunited. Suddenly, Castielle's cell phone beeps. She picks it up and looks at it with a look that could only be described as trepidation.

“I need to get back home.” Castielle says as she begins to pack up her things.

“You ok?” Dean asks, concerned about the abrupt change in Castielle’s demeanor.

“Yeah. I just need to get back home.” Cas says as she puts Hannah’s things in the stroller. After she has everything packed up, Castielle walks over the cashier counter and pays her bill. Dean watches as Cas walks out the door and begins walking towards her condo. Deciding to leave himself, Dean gets up to pay his bill. As he is signing the credit card receipt, the waitress walks up to the counter.

“Castielle wanted me to give this to you.” The waitress says as she hands him a folded up piece of paper. Picking it up, Dean unfolded the paper to find Cas had written a note on it.

_‘I enjoyed talking to you. I’d like to again sometime.  Call me: 815-844-0784 –Castielle.’_

Dean notices that the phone number is different from the one that she had given in getting her car serviced. But Dean decides not to question it, and just folds the note back up and put it in his pocket. As Dean leaves the restaurant, he looks to the west where Castielle had headed. He can see her walking down the sidewalk, but it isn’t the leisurely pace that it had been when she had arrived at the restaurant.

 It cements in Dean’s mind that something is wrong and that Cas needs help. Dean silently vows then to do whatever he can to help her.  


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone who has left Kudos. I appreciate them.   
> Please continue to leave them and please take the time to leave a comment as it is a great creativity boost.

As Castielle made her way back to her condo, she couldn’t help but think about the time she had spent with Dean this morning.It is a pleasant distraction from the nightmare that she fears she will be faced with when she gets home. It’s odd that Michael would come by twice in two days. But when he had text her, demanding to know where she is, Castielle swore that her stomach had nearly dropped into her feet. She had barely kept it together enough to get her and Hannah’s things gathered to leave and pay her bill.

 

She knows that Dean is suspicious of her actions, and he had definitely seen the bruise Michael had left yesterday. On the days after Michael’s ‘visits’, Castielle always tries to keep others at a distance because she knows that if anyone got close enough: they’d be able to see the tattle tell bruises. But something about Dean had called to her and before she really knew what she had said, Dean was sitting across from her. 

 

The ease of talking with Dean wasn’t something that she is used to.Normally it is only Gabriel that Castielle can speak freely to, and even then she has held a lot back from Gabriel.Not wanting to burden her older brother with her problems; she has never told him about Michael or his abuse. It was only after Hannah was born that she had told Gabriel about her pup. Gabriel hadn’t been happy that Castielle had kept that from him, but eventually forgave her and they had managed to rebuild their relationship.

 

She isn’t sure why she gave Dean her phone number or why she chose to give him the number to the phone she kept hidden from Michael. Gabriel had gotten her the phone when she decided to go to College. During that time, he had often paid for the minutes for the phone; so that he could keep in contact with her.Castielle has thought from the beginning that Michael was somehow tapping her cell phone; so she kept the phone that Gabriel got her. She sends money to Gabriel to buy the minutes, so Michael wouldn’t find out about the other phone.

 

Truth be told, she had enjoyed talking to Dean. He treated her like a normal person, something most people don’t do as she is a single parent Omega. Most either just ignore her completely or at worse call her derogatory names.But Dean didn’t seem to mind the fact that she had Hannah; in fact, at one point when Castielle had Hannah sitting on her lap, Dean had actually made faces at the tiny pup earning several giggles from Hannah. She had guiltily fantasized that that was her life; that she and Dean were a couple, and that Hannah is their pup. She nearly cursed her phone when it had received a message from Michael. 

 

When Castielle approaches her house, she doesn’t see Michael’s vehicle anywhere. He either wasn’t here at all or he is out driving around looking for her. But it is still unnerving to her that Michael is keeping this close of tabs on her. Michael will do anything to maintain control, as his power and control is everything to him.Castielle knows that this is probably one of Michael’s mind games. But since she never knows when Michael is playing games with her, she has to follow Michael’s orders.

 

When she gets inside the house and locks the door, she quickly looks around to check for signs that Michael had been there. She had her landlord change her locks this morning; explaining a bit about what happened and that Michael is not welcome in her home. 

 

Castielle doesn’t find any sign of Michael in her house, but she isn’t about to let her guard down. Instead, she takes Hannah upstairs to the master bedroom. Once she gets there, Castielle locks the bedroom door. She places Hannah in the middle of her bed, and the goes over to her dresser.She opens her the drawer that contains her underwear and moves some of her panties aside, uncovering her hidden cell phone.She removes it from the drawer, and moves over to the window that overlooks the street. She spends several moments just staring out the window; looking for Michael’s vehicle.

 

Castielle goes back over to the bed and picks Hannah up again.She decides to go to the nursery as it has more of Hannah’s belongings to be able to be in the room for an extended period of time. Besides Hannah will want to be put down for a nap soon. When she gets to the nursery, Castielle sits down in the rocking arm chair in the corner of the room and begins to rock with Hannah. She knows that she has to calm herself down in order to get Hannah to calm enough to go to sleep; as the tiny pup is beginning to detect her anxiety.

 

As they rock, Castielle forces herself to focus on the many times she had rocked her pup to sleep; and the soothing motion of the chair. A part of her wishes that Hannah hadn’t have had a bottle at the restaurant earlier, as she could use the soothing effect that nursing gave her right now. Soon, Castielle notices that Hannah has fallen asleep in her arms; the only movement from the pup is the occasional bobbing of the pacifier in her mouth. Gently, Castielle rises from her chair and walks over to the crib. Carefully, she lays Hannah down in her crib and covers her with her pink blanket.

 

Castielle then goes over to the changing table and retrieves a black bag from underneath it. Even though Hannah doesn’t want to nurse at the moment, Castielle know she would need to at least pump soon or she’ll get too full.Before returning to her chair, she walks over to the bookshelf on the wall adjacent to the crib.

 

On the bookshelf, hidden amongst the children’s books, is a spiral bound journal. Castielle knows that it is safely hidden on the bookshelf as Michael wouldn’t even set foot in the nursery, much less actually look at the books on the bookshelf.The diary contains a record of all the harassment and abuse that Michael has inflicted. She had started it when Michael had begun to pursue her. She doesn’t know exactly why she had started documenting it, as she knows that it would be almost impossible to bring charges against Michael. His company is among the richest in Lawrence; and he is, on the surface, a respected, powerful Alpha; and she was just an Omega. Soon, the diary became a form of therapy; as a way to release the pain of what Michael did to her.

 

Picking up the journal, Castielle returns to the chair with it and the bag that has her pump in it. Making herself comfortable in the chair, Castielle sets up the pump first. Even if Hannah would be ready to nurse, Castielle would still need to use her pump as Omegas tend to produce a surplus of milk.

 

Back in the days when Omegas were treated more like property by their Alphas, it wasn’t unusual for the Alpha to want to partake of the Omega’s milk. So in effort to have enough to properly nurse their pups, Omegas began to produce more milk. Castielle knows that some Omegas still let their Alpha mates nurse from them. But unlike in the past, now it is seen as an act of foreplay and a chance for mates to bond. But Castielle doesn’t have a mate, and Michael doesn’t care about doing anything that might bring her pleasure. 

 

As the pump runs, Castielle opens the journal to the first blank page and begins to write; documenting the events of the last two days.Michael has been becoming more and more controlling of her since Hannah’s birth. And the text messages like she had received today are becoming more and more common. Castielle never knows if Michael is watching her or if he is just sends random text messages to her to play mind games with her.

 

As she sits in the nursery, she thinks that she hears a car idle in her driveway. But she is sure that it isn’t Michael’s as the engine noise is louder than Michael’s Range Rover. She can feel her nerves ratcheting up again as she wonders who is at her house.Turning off the pump, Castielle removes it and fixes her clothing before rising from her chair to check who is parked in her driveway.

 

She is walking down the stairs when the doorbell rings. When she reaches the door, she looks through the peephole; trying to see what who is at her door. Her heart begins pounding when she sees who is standing on the other side.


	6. Chapter 6

“What are you doing here?

Dean produced Hannah’s Sophie the Giraffe toy from his pocket; and held it out to her.“You left this at the restaurant. I figured it would be missed.”

“Thank you. Hannah will want this later.” Cas said as she took it from him.Dean couldn’t help but notice the way Cas kept looking around, as if waiting for something, or perhaps someone, to jump out at her.He can almost see her heart pounding through her shirt.

“How did you know where I live?”Castielle asked, suddenly realizing that she had never told Dean where she lived.

“I took down your address yesterday for the appointment. I was able to get it from my records.”

“I’m beginning to think the stalker label was accurate.”Cas commented drily.

“Are you ok, Cas?” Dean asked genuinely concerned.Before Cas can answer, the sound of Hannah beginning to cry came over the baby monitor that Cas has in her hand.

“I have to go.” Cas says as she begins to shut the door; but Dean stopped it with his foot.

“Cas wait. I know something is wrong. I just want to make sure that you’re ok.”

“You’re not going to give up, are you?”

“Not until I know that you’re alright.”Dean answered. Something in his answer must have sparked something in Castielle, as the pressure of the door against his foot eased.

“Come in.” Cas steps aside to allow him into her home. 

The whole house is impeccably clean, with not a speck of dirt or dust anywhere.From what Dean can see of the downstairs, it is comfortably decorated. But one thing Dean notices right away is that there isn’t any trace of an Alpha living here; as the only scents he picked up on is Castielle and Hannah.

Before Dean could say anything though, Cas had turned and headed up the stairs to tend to her still crying pup. Dean followed Cas upstairs to the pup’s nursery. Cas walked over to the crib as soon as she entered the nursery.

As Dean stood in the doorway, his eyes wander the room, taking in the details. The room is definitely for a female pup as it is all pink and white. Like the rest of the house, it is well organized and seems to be well stocked. In the chair in the corner, is a breast pump and a notebook of some kind. It paints a vivid picture of what Cas had been doing before he got here.

“Look, Angel:our stalker came to visit.” Castielle said to her pup as she lifted her out of the crib. As she does so, she subtly checked Hannah’s diaper; it is slightly damp, but not enough to worry about changing her right now.

“I didn’t intend on stalking you, Castielle. I was just trying to make sure that you’re ok. The bruise on your face is evidence enough for me that things are not alright with you.”Dean explains, watching Cas closely for any signs of a reaction. Cas chewed on her lower lip as she seems to contemplate what to tell Dean.

“We can talk downstairs.” Castielle says, noting that her cell phone is still in the chair she had been sitting in earlier. She doesn’t want to talk to Dean in vicinity of the phone, as it could be bugged. She does pick up the pump to take the milk downstairs to store in the refrigerator. Dean follows her downstairs; wondering just what Cas is going through. 

He can tell that Castielle is alone, but that didn’t mean that she hadn’t been mated. Her mate could have died. While it would generally be uncommon for a widow to be as young as he guessed Cas to be, anything could have happened to him. Castielle is obviously intelligent, spirited, and sure of herself; not to mention beautiful. She’d be a prize for any Alpha. Dean knows that Castielle is in a vulnerable position, being an Omega on her own. Some Alphas still believe they need to control their Omegas; and if they take an interest in an Omega they could be ruthless in gaining control over the Omega. 

They go down to the kitchen. Castielle puts Hannah in her swing that is next to the table.

“Do you want some coffee or tea?” Castielle asks as she moves over to the counter and begins to get cups out of the cabinet. It is an obvious diversion tactic; but Dean chooses not to comment on it.

“Some coffee would be great. Thank you.” Dean said. He tries to help Cas, but she shoos him away. So he takes a seat at the table near Hannah’s swing and begins to play with her. Castielle pauses at the sight of watching the Alpha play with her pup. Not many Alphas would take an interest in someone else’s pup; as it is often seen as a sign of weakness.But Dean didn’t seem to mind that; he looked right at home with Hannah. Castielle forces herself from watching the scene at the table and focus on making the coffee. Soon she has two cups ready and carries them over to the table.

“I don’t know how you want your coffee. But I have creamer and sugar if you want it.” Cas says as she sits the cup down in front of Dean.

“Black’s fine, Cas. Thanks.” Dean says, flashing his best smile. Cas takes a seat across from Dean on the other side of Hannah. She is silent as she adds her combination of sugar and creamer to her coffee. Dean is about to say something to break the silence when Cas does it for him.

“Why do care do much?” Cas asks as she stirs her coffee.She is definitely avoiding eye contact. The insecurities that people had tried to put into her head over the years are trying to take hold in her psyche.

“What do you mean?’ Dean asks, confused by Cas’s question.

“You seem like a respectable Alpha, Dean. I don’t know why you’d want worry about me. And you probably won’t after I tell you everything.” Cas explains.

“I’m not sure that I’m following you.”

“I don’t have an Alpha. I’m not mated; never have been.”

“What about Hannah’s father?” Dean can’t help but ask.

“He’s not a very nice person.We weren’t mated when I got pregnant, and we’re not mated now.”

“He give you the bruise?” Dean asks. Cas just nods her head; but doesn't say anything.

“Did you report him?” Dean asked wondering if that is what has Cas on edge.

“No.” The Omega said without glancing at the Alpha.

“Why not? If you don’t want to go alone, I can take you to the police station and you can press cha-”

“No, Dean. I will not be pressing charges… it wouldn’t do any good and I don’t want any problems. I appreciate the concern. Really. But I can’t press charges.”

“Cas, why do you think that you can’t press charges?” Dean asks, wondering just why Cas feels like she can’t press charges against her abuser.

“Because, he is an Alpha. And while Omegas have more rights now, people still look down upon an unmated Omega that has a pup.” Cas explains like it is the most obvious answer in the world.

“Cas, Omega or not, you deserve to be safe. The only way you can be safe, is if you stand up to Hannah’s father and press charges.” Dean argues. 

“Dean, I know the prejudices that still challenge Omegas; I deal with them every day. From people ignoring me entirely to people calling me a ‘slut’ to my face. Society believes that I brought the abuse upon myself.”

“The police will help you whether you are mated or not.” Dean insisted.

Cas gives him a look as if she is wondering if he really is a dense as she thinks he is. “The days where people of my status were collared property isn’t far enough in the past for most people to keep from still acting like it is still the case. And Hannah’s father isn’t your typical Alpha. He does hold a high status here in Lawrence. Michael believes that he is above the law.” Cas said realizing only after she said it, that she had let Michael’s name slip.

“You ok, Cas?” Dean asks, noticing the scent of fear that had entered Cas’s scent.

“You should probably go. I don’t want him to find out that someone was here.” Cas says as she gets up from her seat.

“Cas-“ Dean begins. He hopes he could convince her to let him help her. 

“Goodbye Dean.” Cas says as she opens the sliding glass door behind her. Dean does leave, but as he walks around to the Impala he realizes what caused the abrupt change in Cas’s demeanor: she had said her abusers first name. While it isn’t a lot to work from, it’s better than nothing.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Dean lay wake in his room staring at the ceiling. He had been up most of the night trying to figure out how to help Cas, but had so far come up with nothing. He had made a list of every Michael he could think of that was prominent in Lawrence. That list is surprisingly long; even after Dean had eliminated the ones who were already mated. As he is going over his list again, his cell phone beside his bed begins to ring.

Grabbing his phone, Dean checks the screen to see who is calling; although he already suspects that it is Sam.  Sam called every Sunday morning. The two brothers have been close since their childhood. Now his baby brother is a Lawyer and a good one at that. He specialized in representing victims of abuse.  If there is a person to discuss this with it would be Sam.  

“Hello.” Dean answers, voice heavy and groggy.

 

"Did I wake you?” Sam asked noticing how tired Dean’s voice sounds.

 

“No, no, I um was awake.” The Alpha said,

 

“Can’t sleep?” The younger Alpha asked.

 

“Yeah…” There was no point lying to Sam, his brother knew him too well. “I meet an Omega. She’s in an abusive situation and I don’t know how to help her.”  Dean explains and he can almost hear Sam shift into ‘Lawyer Mode’.

 

"Is she a traditional?" Sam asks, clearly trying to plot out the situation in his head. 

 

A ‘Traditional’ is people that believe in the old dynamics where an Alpha is top dog and an Omega is only good for breeding and pleasuring Alphas. The ‘Traditional’ Omegas, especially the females, were easily identifiable by the fact that they usually are dressed in an old fashioned manner in a dress or skirt that goes down to their ankle. And usually have a collar on prominent display around their neck. And are almost constantly either heavy with pup or nursing a pup.  

 

“I don’t think so. At least she doesn’t dress like a traditional. Why does that matter?”

 

“Does she realize it is an abusive situation?” Sam asks and Dean can’t help but scoff at Sam’s question. How could someone not realize they are being abused? Dean wonders.

 

“She isn’t stupid, Sam.” Dean argues.

 

“I never said that she was.” Sam argues back. “I just know that many victims of abuse; especially an Omega, will often deny that they are being abused. They don’t even admit it to themselves. And that is especially true of the Traditional Omegas.  Most of them are abused their whole lives, so much so, that they believe that what is happening is normal. Others will truly believe that they deserve the abuse. They will blame themselves for someone else abusing them. I hear them make excuses every day when interviewing new clients.”

 

“I’m sure that she does realize she’s being abused.”  Dean says, mulling over what Sam has just said.  He had known domestic abuse happened, but he had never really thought about why more people don’t get out of the situation.

 

“If you’re sure, something has to be holding her back from getting out. Again, I hear a list of reasons every day. But most reasons are either financial or involve pups.” 

 

“She has a pup. Not sure how much financial help she gets.”

 

“If the one abusing her has legal ties to the pup, she is probably afraid of losing her pup. I’ve seen it enough times to know that is the strongest way to control an Omega: threatening to take their pups away from them. I had one client whose Alpha liked to hold their arm over the burner on the stove as ‘punishment’, but was terrified to press charges against the Alpha because they had threatened to not only take the Omega’s pups from them, but to abuse the pups as well. They only pressed charges after I swore that I would do what I could to protect their pups.” Sam explained.

 

Dean feels sick, thinking about what that nameless Omega had endured. He doesn’t know what happened in some Alphas that caused them to flip the switch off on their instinct to protect their mate and pups, and cause them to hurt and abuse them.

 

“Has she made any indication that she wants help?” Sam’s question cuts through Dean’s thoughts.

 

“Yes and no. One minute, she’ll admit to the abuse; then the next she’s pulling away.” Dean answers, still confused by Cas’s behavior.

 

“The pup will probably have to be the tipping point. Omegas being abused often revert to an almost feral instinct to protect their pups. They live for their pups; and many, sadly, die for their pups.  One thing is that until she admits that she needs help, there isn’t much that can be done; legally. If you really want to help her, that you make yourself available to help her.”  Sam suggested.

 

“And how would I do that?” Dean asked, frustrated that Sam seems to think that there is no way to immediately help Cas.

 

“Be a friend. The more that she trusts you the more likely that she will turn to you when she’s ready to get out.” Sam answers. “Dean, I gotta go; Colton just woke up and Jess is at the grocery store.”

 

“Ok. See you next weekend?” Dean asked. The two brothers got together at least once a month for dinner.  Dean can hear Colton fussing, so he doesn’t plan to keep Sam on the phone.

 

“Sure. Just name the time and place.” Sam answers before he hangs up.

 

A framed photograph on the nightstand caught Dean’s attention. It was taken at Sam’s law school graduation.  Sam is in his cap and gown with Mary standing at his left side and John is on his right; Dean is standing on the other side of John.  It was the perfect picture of a proud family. As Dean looks at the photograph, his mind wonder to the past.

 

When the two brothers were young, Mary had been diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately, it had been discovered in the earlier stages; so Mary was able to receive treatment. It had taken a toll on Mary at the time; often so sick that she had a hard time functioning. And John had been so focused on supporting the family and helping Mary in any way that he could; he guiltily had to admit that he had unintentionally neglected his boys.  

While no one intentionally put the pressure on Dean to take care of everyone, Dean had taken on the responsibility of caring for Sam. He had made his and Sam’s lunches for school, walked with Sam to the bus stop, helped Sammy every night with his spelling words, and every night tucked Sammy into bed. When Mary was sick, Dean was often the one to be there to get Mary her medication and a glass of water.   The brothers had grown close as they really only had each other to turn to during Mary’s illness. Their bond had remained strong as they grew, and they had been each other’s best friend.

 After Dean had graduated high school, he had joined the Marine Corps instead of college.  He had done well in the Corps, but a training accident led to the end of his military career. Upon his honorable discharge, Dean had returned to Lawrence; and began to work for his father’s auto repair shop.  And took over the shop after his father had decided to retire.

Sam had gotten a scholarship to Stanford in both academics and athletics.  While he was at Stanford, Sam made the decision to become a lawyer. And not just any lawyer, but one that represented victims of crime. He is the shield for the victim, defending their rights in both the investigation process and trial.  While many people would have cracked under the pressure of hearing about the abusive situation of so many people; Sam seemed to use it for a driving force.

At Stanford, Sam also met and mated to a beautiful Omega named Jessica.  She also had a calling to help people. Jess is a social worker and is currently pursuing a degree to become a counselor. She also works with Sam by interviewing some of his most traumatized clients. Most Omegas feel more comfortable opening up to a fellow Omega; as they tend to form a connection.  And for the Traditional Omegas, Jess is proof that there is a better life available for Omegas beyond the abuse and the pain.      

 

Sam and Jess now live in the Kansas City suburb of Overland park and have a six month old son named Colton.  Dean will admit, to himself at least, that he is equal parts proud and jealous of Sam and the life he has built for himself.  Dean knows that he wants to be a father, but he hasn’t found his mate yet.  His mind drifts to Cas on it’s own accord. Now that he knows for a fact that the Omega isn’t mated, he can’t help but think that he has a chance to make his timid dreams come true.

 

With Sam’s advice still running through his head, Dean turns his attention back to his cell phone. Scanning through his contacts, Dean soon finds the one he had added just yesterday. But instead of dialing it, Dean contemplates the phone number that Cas had wrote down on her note. It is an invitation to call her, isn’t it?  But at the same time he worries that if ‘Michael’ is around Cas, what would he do to her if he found out about this cell phone.

 

Deciding to take the chance, Dean hits the call button on his phone and begins to count the rings.

 

“Hello?’ Comes the uncertain voice on the other end.

 

“Castielle?” Dean asks, fully aware that Cas could have given him a phone number that didn’t belong to her.

 

“Yes. Who’s this?”

 

“Dean Winchester.

 

“Hello Dean.” Castielle says. There is an expectant pause, that Dean is sure that she is wondering what Dean wants.

“I was wondering: if you’d want to go out to dinner with me tonight?”  Dean asks, hoping that he could give Cas a night out without worrying about Michael.

 

“I don’t have a sitter for Hannah.” Cas says. It sounds like an excuse, but Dean can’t help but push a bit.

 

“That’s ok. I meant for you and Hannah to go to dinner with me.”

 

“You want me to bring Hannah?” Cas seems rightfully shocked that Dean would want Hannah to be around.  

 

“Yeah. She’s a good pup. I like spending time with the two of you. So what do you say, will you go to dinner with me?” Dean asks, hopeful that Cas will say yes.

 

“I’d like that.” Came the quiet response. 

 

“Ok. Pick you up at 5?” Dean asks.

 

“Alright. I’ll see you then.” Castielle answers before she hung up the phone.

 

As Dean puts the phone back on the nightstand, he can’t help but feel excited about tonight. Hopefully it is a step in the right direction of Dean being able to help Cas.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait for this chapter; this was a hard chapter to write.. So comments and kudos is greatly appreciated.

Castielle runs her fingers through her hair as she stood in front of her closet. For such a simple task, it can be surprisingly daunting to choose clothes. Cas is unsure of exactly how to dress for tonight.  She’s never really been out with anyone before; but Dean never said that this is a date. And she doesn’t want to give off the wrong idea; so she decides to dress nicely- casual.  She puts on a pair of black leggings and begins to sort through her tops in her closet. Finally she comes to one of her favorite tunics.

“What do you think of this one?’ Cas asks holding up the top to show Hannah who is sitting in her bouncy chair.  Hannah just sits in her chair kicking her legs and sucking her pacifier.

“You’re not very helpful.”  Castielle says, making a face at Hannah, causing her to giggle. She puts on her top and goes over to her dresser, and begins to brush her long hair. After she gets her hair styled the way she wanted, she put her brush down and began to put on her make-up. Again, she doesn’t want to go overboard; so she does her make-up how she does when she goes to work.

“Come on Angel, time to get you dressed.” Cas says as she lifts Hannah out of her chair. Castielle lays Hannah down on her changing mat that Cas had already laid out on the bed. She changes Hannah’s diaper first. Cas then dresses Hannah in a denim dress and a pair of white tights that look like they have black mary-janes on the feet.  She then brushes the wispy dark curls on Hannah’s head, before putting a bow that matches her dress in her hair.

“Well, let’s go get your things together before Dean gets here.” Castielle says as she finishes getting Hannah’s hair done. Castielle picks Hannah up and carries her out of the bedroom.

Downstairs in the kitchen, after putting Hannah in her swing, Cas takes out some of the milk bags out of the refrigerator to prepare a couple bottles for Hannah.  Castielle doesn’t know what time that they’ll be home so she wants to be prepared to give Hannah both her supper bottle and her bedtime bottle.  She just hopes that Hannah will accept the second bottle as she is still exclusively nursing her at night.

Castielle then goes through the diaper bag, making sure it is stocked with enough supplies for tonight.  In addition to enough diapers for the night, Castielle makes sure there is a change of clothes in case Hannah spits-up on her clothes.  She also packs Sophie the giraffe and Hannah’s teething rattle.   While Hannah isn’t yet teething, she likes to gum on teething toys.

She had just put the bottles into the diaper bag when the doorbell rings. Since it is probably Dean, Cas picks up Hannah from her swing and heads towards the front door.  Before she opened the door, Castielle checks the peephole to make sure who is on the other side.

She opens the door to reveal Dean standing on her front step. He is dressed in a pair of casual jeans and a flannel shirt that is open to reveal a black t-shirt underneath. Castielle is glad that she had decided to dress more casual.

“Hello Dean.”

“Hey Cas.” Dean returns the greeting once he regains the ability to speak from the shock of how hot Cas looks. She is dressed in a casual manner but the overall effect is stunning none the less.

“Come on in. I got to get the diaper bag and then we can get the car seat from my car.” Castielle says as she steps aside to allow Dean to enter.

“No need to worry about that. I know how challenging it is to take a car seat out of a car, so I thought it might be easier if I had one ready before I got here.” Dean answered. He had gone to Wal-Mart after he had talked to Cas this morning and got the car seat for Hannah.

“Ok. Then I’ll just grab the diaper bag and we can go.” Cas says as she turns to go to the kitchen.  She is unsure of how she feels about Dean already having a car seat. Did it mean that he has his own pups? A mate? While she can’t blame Dean if he did have pups, she just doesn’t want to be involved with another mated Alpha. She doesn’t want to be another Alpha’s slut. But she doesn’t say anything yet; as there could be another reason for Dean to have a car seat; the logical part of her brain argues.

“Since you said that Michael is of high status in Lawrence, I figured it would be better to be out of town.”  Dean says as he follows Cas to the kitchen.

“You’re probably right.” Cas answers. She is surprised that she didn’t think of that herself. But Dean is the first person that she has allowed herself to get close to since Michael began pursuing her.  “So where are we going?”

“I thought we’d go to a restaurant in Baldwin City. I meet my brother and sister in law there quite often. The food there is really good.”

“Ok. Sounds good.” Castielle says as she grabs the diaper bag and her purse from the kitchen counter.  But before she could put the diaper bag on her shoulder, Dean takes it from her and easily shoulders the bag.

“Alright. Let’s go.” Dean replies as he leads the way out to the Impala.

Dean’s car is a sleek, black, muscle car; that is obviously well loved by Dean as it is gleaming in the sun from a fresh waxing.  She remembers one of her brothers saying that the easiest way to complement an Alpha is to complement their car.

So Cas says: “Nice car.”

“Thanks. My Dad gave it to me as a graduation gift when I graduated high school.”

He opens the back door for Cas to put Hannah in the car seat. The car seat is obviously new, as Cas can smell the freshness of the material. She is surprised that Dean bought a new car seat just so she didn’t have to try to get Hannah’s car seat out of the back of her car.  Castielle notices as she is buckling Hannah’s car seat is that Dean had bought one that is identical to Hannah’s normal one.

Getting Hannah settled in her seat, Castielle moves to the front seat with Dean before they back out to leave. About twenty minutes after Dean had picked her up, they arrive at the restaurant.

Castielle gets in the back to take Hannah out of the car. But instead of taking her out of the car seat, she gets the car seat out of the back of the Impala.

“Sure about taking the car seat inside?” Dean asks as Cas emerges from the backseat.

“Most places don’t have a proper seat for a pup as young as Hannah; so if you use the carrier, you can make their high chairs work.” Cas explains. It is obvious that Dean hasn’t ever had to deal with going out to eat with a young pup.

“If you say so.” Dean replies as he opens the door to the restaurant.

“Hi. Welcome to the Wagon wheel.” The hostess greets them as they walk into the restaurant.  “Just the three of you?”

“Yeah.” Dean answers. The hostess makes a note on her board, then grabs menus and sets of silverware.

“Ok, follow me.”  The hostess says as she leads them to a table.

“I’ll get a stand for the carrier.” The young Beta said as she walked away. Cas sat the carrier on her chair to wait for the hostess to return. A few moments later the hostess returned with a high chair. Dean sees what Cas meant as it isn’t for a pup as young as Hannah. But when she gets to the table, the hostess turns it upside down so that the legs form the support to sit the carrier on.

As they take their seats the waitress comes over.  She is a grandmotherly woman with graying hair pulled back in a neat bun.

“Hi, I’m Shirley. I’ll be taking care of you. Can I get you something to drink?”

 “Sweet tea, please.” Cas says to the waitress.

“Make that two.”  Dean said forgoing beer for the time being.

“So tell me about yourself.” Cas says after the waitress leaves to get their drinks.

“What?” Dean asks. He is confused by Cas’s request; he hadn’t been expecting her forwardness.

“You’ve been coming around; trying to institute yourself into my life. Is it wrong that I want to know more about you?”

“No; it’s not wrong. I was raised in Lawrence. My dad ran the shop, and my mother is a teacher.  I have a younger brother. He is a lawyer in Kansas City.  He’s mated and has a six month old son.”

“You’re proud of him.”  Castielle notes.

“Yeah, I am.” Dean admits.

“So what about you? You’ve talked about your parents and your brother, but what’s your story?”  Castielle is not use to an Alpha that doesn’t want to talk about themselves. But Dean seems to want to rewrite all the rules of being an Alpha in Castielle’s book.

“What do you want to know?”  Dean asks. However, before Cas has a chance to answer the waitress returns with their drinks.

 “Are we ready to order or do you need a few more minutes?” Shirley asks as she puts their drinks on the table.  Dean realized that Cas had even looked at the menu. But before he could tell Shirley that they need a few minutes; Cas says: “I’m ready, if you are?”  She made a vague gesture for Dean to order first.

“I want the double bacon cheeseburger.” Dean orders. He thinks Cas is probably using the extra seconds deciding on her choice. But instead of studying the menu, Cas seems to know exactly what she wants.

“I’ll have the chicken cavatappi.” Cas says after Shirley has written down Dean’s order.

Shirley wrote down their order, then collected their menus; and with a smile, she walked away. 

“Have you been here before?”  Dean asks.  Maybe that was why Cas seemed to know exactly what she wanted.

“No.”  Castielle says, clearly confused by Dean’s question, before she realized why Dean was asking.

“I can process things in a glance.” Cas explains as she looked away from Dean self-consciously. She knows it is an odd trait to have, but that particular talent had become invaluable when she had been in school and had to study volumes of tax codes in between her classes and shifts at the grocery store.

“Beautiful and smart, huh? I like that.”  Dean complements, causing Cas to blush slightly. Aside from Gabriel’s brotherly teasing, no one has complemented her like that before. So feeling the need to shift the attention off of her, Cas asks:

“So did you always want to be a mechanic?”

“I guess so. It’s kinda a job I fell into. I worked for my Dad when I was a teenager, then I joined the Marines out of high school; thought of really making a career out of it.  But during a training exercise, I took some shrapnel to the chest. After I was discharged, I came back here. I had to take over the shop when my Dad decided to semi-retire after he had a heart attack.”

“Is he ok?”  Cas asked, she is genuinely concerned.

“Yeah. It’ll be hard to keep the old man down. He still comes into the shop from time to time when either I need help or he just gets bored at the house.”

“Do you have anyone special?”  Cas asks. She is clearly fishing for a piece of information; but Dean decides to comment on it.

“No. At least not yet.” Dean answers. “What about you?”

“What about me?” Cas asked clearly dodging the question.

“What’s your story?” Dean askes, repeating Castielle’s question.

“I grew up near Chicago. My parents were Traditional, and I couldn’t live under those rules. So when I found an opportunity to get away: I took it. Put myself through KSU and been on my own ever since.”

“Do you even talk to your family?” Dean asked. With the close relationship he has with his family, he could only imagine not having them to talk to whenever he wanted to.

“Just my older brother. He gave me a place to crash for a while before I decided I needed to get away entirely. It’s not a close relationship, but it’s a lot better than what I have with my parents or other siblings.”

“So I take it that he doesn’t know about what is going on with Michael?” Dean asks as he knows if Sam was having problems, he would drop everything and be there for Sam.”

“Yes and no. I only told him about Hannah after I had her. And haven’t told him anything about what Michael does.” Cas explained. She starts to say something else, but before she could; the waitress returns with their orders.

“Here we go. Is there anything else I can get for you?” Shirley asks as she sets the plates down on the table.

“No. Thank you.” Dean answers.

They make small talk over their dinners; as Cas clearly keeps steering the conversation away from the topics of Michael and her family. Dean realizes that those are probably hard topics for Cas to talk about, especially in a public place and decides to allow her to steer the conversation.

During dinner, Hannah began fussing for her evening feeding. Dean had been finishing his burger so he had taken the small pup into his arms to give Hannah her bottle. His actions seemed to have surprised Cas as she watches intently. But then, if Cas had been raised as a Traditional, then the thought of a male Alpha doing something like feeding a pup must be a foreign one.  Then when they finish their meal, Cas isn’t expecting Dean to pay for their dinner. But she doesn’t argue as Dean offers up his card to pay.

They get their things gathered up, and headed out to the Impala.  They get Hannah settled into the back seat before beginning to drive back to Lawrence.


End file.
